Bye, Bye Woodson

As a Green Bay Packers fan, I had to do a double take when I saw on Twitter that the team released Charles Woodson last Friday.  Charles Woodson, arguably the core of their defense, is being released?  After some issues with injury and perhaps his age beginning to climb (he is 36 years old), I can see some room for concern.  That does not mean I like this decision. 

Woodson is hands down my favorite defensive player and I proudly wear his jersey every Sunday.  I'm not sure how many more Packers losses of favorite players I can handle.  Brett Favre, although not Green Bays fault, was a tough blow.  This year Donald Driver, a Packers great, is choosing to retire.  And now Woodson, too?  So God help me if Jordy Nelson is somehow off the roster in the next five years.

Looks like I'll be in the market for a Nelson jersey this off-season and hope that M.D. Jennings or another player can step up to "replace" Woodson.

--Jayme

Gaining Experience

Happy Monday!  I can't believe it's already the last Monday in February.  Over the past few months, I've been trying to focus on gaining experience for my future careers.  Although I've been doing this in various ways, my work at the Grove City YMCA seems to be most influential.

Every Sunday I keep the scorebook and help to run the Adult Men's Basketball League at the YMCA.  Last night, there were issues with the referees, some player attitudes, and uniforms.  The referees were not even close to on the same page and were not working well with each other.  The players spent more of the game complaining about calls and using profanity than actually playing.  And although this is the 5th week, half of the teams still do not have proper uniforms with numbers.  Even though these issues are minor, every week my eyes get opened to what the sport field is actually like.  I'm beginning to learn how to solve problems on the fly and how to communicate with unhappy referees, players, and spectators.  The most important thing that I've learned is my attitude completely changes the solution.  If I am respectful, pleasant, professional, and sincere, people take what I have to say much better and accept it.

Overall, this league, combined with Youth Soccer that I also run, is a great learning experience that will definitely benefit me in the sport field upon graduation.

Have a great week!
--Jayme

Baseball Season is in the Air

Good afternoon!  With this cold, miserable weather still in the air, it's hard to believe that baseball season is quickly approaching.  Team's recently fully reported to training camp and games begin this week.  Granted, this is all going on in the sunny state of Florida, it seems way too early for baseball.

Pirates tickets have been on sale, and I have even secured a few sets myself.  As a normal family in central PA, we have always followed the Pirates.  However, my boyfriend is an avid Atlanta Braves fan, and I've slowly jumped on the bandwagon.  Because of this, every year we go to Pittsburgh to watch the Braves play the Pirates.  This year they play early in the season, and we already have our tickets for the April 18th and 20th games. 

Although I care less about baseball than I do football and basketball, baseball games are one of my favorite events to attend - it's a comfortable, relaxing family atmosphere for a cheap price with warm weather.  So I'm ready for baseball season and all that it brings along to get here!

Countdown?  2 months.  I hope it goes quickly.

--Jayme

Twitter in Sport

Hello, all!  Recently I've been very involved with Twitter, and I've increased who I follow.  I used to merely follow my friends and a handful of celebrities, but my ways are beginning to change.

Twitter is a great source for quick, up-to-date info regarding sports.  Teams have made Twitter accounts and someone updates them nearly play-by-play.  The combination of being a poor college student without cable and a very busy college student forces me to miss more games than I would like.  By following Duke Blue Devils Basketball on Twitter, I get updates every few minutes on the game.  Whoever updates the Twitter lets me know the statistics of players having a good game, overall score, and any injury information.  Prior in the week/day, it also lets me know exactly when Duke is playing and what network it will be airing on.

What better way is there for a sport fan to keep up with their team than on Twitter?  It's an app that is already used daily and doesn't involve me downloading a new app to clog up my iPhone screen.  That's the best of both worlds if you ask me.

Happy Tweeting!
--Jayme

Duke vs. UNC

This week is ESPN's Rivalry Week in men's college basketball.  The Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels is always a popular game during Rivalry Week, and this year it did not disappoint.  With Duke doing better than originally expected (least by me) and the Tar Heels having a poor season in ACC play, I expected a little more of a blow out.  However, with Ryan Kelly out and the rivalry atmosphere, it proved correct that anything can happen.

Luckily, Duke came out with the win after trailing for a majority of the game.  Seth Curry pulled through, but Ryan Kelly was still missed.  It will be clutch if he can be back for March Madness.

The last seven games of the season will continue to be exciting with Duke seeing teams like Miami, Boston, and Maryland.  And what other way is there to end the season besides a Duke vs. UNC rematch?  The next month of college basketball will definitely continue to be exciting.  The most exciting part? March Madness.

--Jayme

Organization Tactics

We are constantly asked what important traits of sport managers are.  Characteristics such as good communication, leadership, motivation, and the ability to work long hours always are named.  Another important characteristic named, which is helpful in every career field, is organization.  As college students, it is hard to remain organized.  In particular, I am especially busy this semester.  In one day I have 6 classes, a 3 hour shift at the Grove City YMCA, a shift on campus with the Accredidation Coordinator, and homework.  Between all that, I need to find time to eat and exercise, too.  How can it be done?

I found a great organizational tool in Google Calendars.  With Google Calendar, you can create multiple calendars for every chapter of your life, change the colors of events based on topic, set alerts, and even share your calendar with others.  On top of all this, you can sync the calendar with an app on your cell phone and have it at your fingertips at any moment.

Personally, with Google Calendar I put my work schedule on one calendar, classes on another, and due dates on yet another.  Then, every day I can overlap them so all three may be viewed at once.

Overall, it is a great organizational tool to keep organized.  As future sport managers, organization is a trait that must be conquered now.

Have a great day & stay organized!

--Jayme

Duke Solution

Happy Wednesday!  Do you know what the best thing about this Wednesday is?  Duke men's basketball plays NC State tomorrow night at 9.  Do you know what the worst thing is?  As poor college students, my roommates and I don't have cable.  I knew there needed to be a solution for this problem.

After missing the first 3 games of the season, I found the solution - xfinity.com.  Because my parents have Comcast xfinity, we also have an online account.  I recently found that I can log on to their website and it streams channels like ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPNU online!  If I don't feel like watching it on my small laptop screen, I can even connect my laptop to my TV with an HDMI cord and watch it full size.

With this solution, peace is restored and it is back to a happy Wednesday. Isn't technology and online streaming great?

--Jayme

Nice to meet you!

Hello! Jayme, here.  This is my second blog, but my first about sport.  My original blog was created on Blogger for Technology Education in Physical Education.  I was led to my first blog as a Health and Physical Education major at Slippery Rock University, just as I am led to this as a Sport Management minor in Sport Communication.  It is my goal to keep up better with Sport by Jayme than I did my last one.

Here's a little bit more about me.  At the moment, I'm 21 years old.  As previously touched on, I'm a junior Health and PE major and Sport Management minor at Slippery Rock University.  I plan to teach either elementary PE or secondary health classes.  However, I can also definitely see myself working at a YMCA, which is where the minor comes into play.  Most of my time is spent on schoolwork, but I am also employed by the Grove City YMCA as an Afterschool Youth Supervisor.  I orginially took the position to gain experience in a sport environment with youth, but it really opened up my eyes to other career choices throughout the YMCA organization.

Throughout the semester, I hope to touch on topics that range from sport communication and media to current and new technology. 

I look forward to having you back to view my posts & feel free to comment!

-- Jayme